The Notorious Bettie Page

Gretchen Mol is finally the key to the mysterious appeal of the film, to its sweetness and sadness.

It's a joy to see so many cheerful and contented characters on screen, especially on a screen that looks this good.

The notion that Page, like Marilyn Monroe, was too ditzy to know what she was doing is more a mythological construct than an observation.

It's less cheesecake than angel-food: frothy, light, and delicious, sure, but two hours later you're ready for something slightly more substantive.

Anyone expecting another dark satiric film in the same vein of Harron's earlier movies will be disappointed. Perhaps as befits a bondage-themed picture, The Notorious Bettie Page is very restrained, even a little starchy.

A feature film has to be more than just an interesting theme; it needs something that constitutes drama -- conflict, journey, adventure, what have you. The Notorious Bettie Page is a perfect example of a film that has a subject but no story.

A superficial look at the '50s sex icon, picture feels like it was researched via press clippings rather than attempting a fresh rethinking of its era and provocative subject.

A solid but far from perfect biopic on the life of pin-up Bettie Page. Gretchen Mol is perfectly cast in the lead.

The Notorious Bettie Page, a biopic of the infamous pin-up icon, is a mildly entertaining romp through Page's early life and modelling career. Gretchen Mol is spot-on as Page, she looks the part and perfectly captures her iconic poses. Jared Harris is also good as seedy British photographer John Willie, as is David Strathairn as Estes Kefauver as a senator investigating the negative impact of pornography on the American people. I also like the stylistic decision to film partially in black-and-white and partially in garish technicolor - it works really well in terms of setting the tone of particular scenes, with Page's formative years and earlier modelling experiences presented with a nostalgic, classic Hollywood appearance, and her celebrity lifestyle in Miami and her most iconic magazine covers presented as garish, striking splashes of colour. Unfortunately, the film does not seem to say an awful lot about anything, beyond a meagre attempt to discuss the morality of nude photography and censorship. A lot of the film, in fact, seems to simply be providing something to fill the space between the softcore thrills. I also feel that the story comes to an end just when it starts to get really interesting. I would love to see a film adaptation of Page's later life, a far darker and more complex period that would offer genuine scope for real drama. That's the main disappointment about The Notorious Bettie Page, for a story of such a controversial figure, the film comes across as a little tame. Director Mary Harron and her co-writer Guinevere Turner could have been so much braver and really gotten behind Bettie Page's motivations, and her seemingly contradictory moral code. As it is, the film is pleasant, but a little limp and uninspiring. I don't begrudge watching such a competent film, but I never felt I got to understand Bettie Page, so as a biopic, it ultimately fails.